Software alternatives · Geotechnical
A free GEO5 alternative in your browser
GEO5 is commercial software for the geotechnical design of foundations, piles, retaining walls and slopes, settlement and site investigation data. If you need to do similar work without an installation or a licence — for preliminary design, checking, teaching or a quick answer on site — the CivilWorks Atelier studios below cover the same kinds of tasks for free, with step-by-step calculation sheets, drawings and Excel.
Where to do it in CivilWorks Atelier
| Task | Studio | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Spread footings, bearing capacity and settlement | Foundation Studio | Pad, strip, combined footings and rafts on a layered ground model |
| Single piles, pile capacity from CPT | Pile studio | Axial and lateral (p-y) analysis, testing and load tests |
| Pile groups and pile caps | Pile studio | Any pile layout, cap of any shape, rigid-cap reactions and cap design |
| Cantilever, gravity and sheet-pile walls | Retaining & sheet-pile wall studio | Earth pressures, stability, embedded walls with props |
| Slope stability | Slope Stability Studio | Bishop, Spencer and other limit-equilibrium methods on layered sections |
| Soil nail walls and ground anchors | Soil Nail & Ground Anchor Studio | Nail forces, pull-out, facing, anchor bond lengths and tests |
| Settlement and consolidation of embankments | Embankment on Soft Clay Studio | Staged construction, vertical drains, strength gain |
| Borehole logs and stratigraphy | Borehole & strata studio | Logs, cross-sections, site plan and 3D model |
| CPT and SPT interpretation | CPT studio | Soil behaviour type, parameters, liquefaction |
| Finite-element analysis | Geotrix FEM | 2D plane-strain and axisymmetric FE in the browser |
Why engineers use it
- Free and instant — no installation, licence server or sign-up; it runs on a laptop, tablet or phone.
- Every step shown — calculation sheets (PDF) with the formulas, values and code clauses, ready to check by hand.
- Drawings and data — A3 drawing sets, SVG and PNG figures, Excel workbooks and JSON project files.
- Codes you work to — Australian Standards, with BNBC 2020 (Bangladesh), US and British codes where the studio offers them.
- Private by design — your inputs stay in your browser.
Where GEO5 still fits
Large three-dimensional models, project-wide data management and analyses that need a validated commercial program and its support remain the job of tools such as GEO5. CivilWorks Atelier is best used for preliminary design, independent checks of a model, quick site answers, teaching and small projects.
Questions
Is CivilWorks Atelier a free alternative to GEO5?
For many everyday tasks, yes: the geotechnical design of foundations, piles, retaining walls and slopes, settlement and site investigation data can be worked through in the free browser studios listed on this page, with calculation sheets and drawings. It is not a copy of GEO5, does not open its files and is not affiliated with its developer.
Can I use the results for design?
The studios follow published design standards and show every step, so each result can be checked by hand. They are intended for preliminary design, independent checking and learning; final designs should be verified by a qualified engineer.
Do I need to install anything or pay for a licence?
No. Everything runs in a web browser on a desktop, tablet or phone, and the studios are free to use. Your inputs stay in your browser.
Other free alternatives
LPILE alternative PLAXIS alternative Slide2 alternative SLOPE/W alternative CPeT-IT alternative gINT alternative WALLAP alternative Tedds alternative Mathcad alternative STAAD.Pro alternative SPACE GASS alternative
GEO5 is a trademark of its respective owner. CivilWorks Atelier is an independent site and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by that owner; the name is used only to describe the kind of work being compared. CivilWorks Atelier does not open or create GEO5 files.